Comfort after a Nightmare
by lonelywerewolf123
Summary: It's a normal night and everyone's fast asleep but our friend James has a sleep paralysis episode and Brian comes to his aid upon hearing his distress. What will this night have in store?


It was about midnight and I was in my bed lying on my back in a comfortable slumber with the door open enough to comfort me with a small light. All of a sudden I was awakened. It seemed as if the room was consumed by darkness. I knew my eyes were open but my vision was impaired for some reason. I couldn't see at all and I was paralyzed. I also had a very uncomfortable and insecure feeling. It was as if an evil presence was in the room watching over me. I also felt an intense feeling of fear that was growing stronger with every waking second that went by. I was terrified. I tried screaming for help but not a sound would come out. It felt like pressure was building up in my chest and I couldn't breathe. My heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest with each violent throb that seemed to get faster as my pulse rose with each beat to the point to where I felt that my heartbeat was pounding in my head. I didn't know what to do. All of a sudden everything went dead silent. I felt dizzy, as if the room was spinning.

I sensed something. It felt as if something horrible was going to happen. Then all of a sudden, it was like an earthquake hit my room. I felt like I was grasped by razor sharp claws or talons digging into me and was being shook violently by something and it sounded like there were a million souls being tortured that were stuck in my head screaming, as if they were trying to escape from Hell. The convulsing lasted for what seemed like an eternity. The shaking began to slow down and eventually it stopped. The evil presence and sense of fear slowly lifted. I was gasping for air as my heart was racing and I could still feel my heartbeat throbbing in my head and I was sweating profusely. I slowly looked around the room and saw that I was all alone. There was no one else in the room but me. I sat up and rocked myself back and forth and started to cry which quickly progressed into a sob. I heard footsteps which sounded like they were coming closer to my door. I took my head out of my knees and looked up at the door with tears still trickling down my face, fearing what else was to come.

The door slowly opened. My eyes squinted in resistance to the light pouring into the room all at once. When my vision adjusted I saw that it was a white Labrador retriever with a red collar and a golden tag which shined in the light. The dog took one hand and rubbed the sleepiness out of his eye as he walked to the side of my bed, climbed on top of it, scooted over to my side, and rested his hand on my back and rubbed it soothingly

"Hey James, what's wrong buddy?" Brian asked in a yawn

"Why've ya been cryin' what happened, did you have a bad dream or something?" Brian frowned

I snorted my runny nose and blinked away a few more tears.

"Hey Brian, I… I don't know what just happened, but… I think I was..." Then I hesitated

"No, never mind…" I looked down and went silent.

Brian's hand on my back "Look, I came in here for a reason. I heard you sobbing ALL the way from Peter and Lois' room, Now tell me. What happened? Remember what I said about you hiding things from me?" Brian asked

I looked at Brian and hesitated again, but forced out an answer "Y-yeah…" I then turned my head to the side and looked away.

Brian took his hand from my back and scooted closer to me "James, you usually tell me everything, was it really that bad?" Brian asked concerned

I turned my head back towards Brian but continued to look down. I thought of what to say with my eyes wandering to the side, and finally I answered "Well, I don't think you would understand. If you did I don't think you'd believe me though"

There was a brief pause until Brian broke thet silence "I could try to, and I don't think you would really lie about anything that happened to you to make you scream the way you did James. Tell me what happened, please, I won't tell anyone, I promise, trust me!" Brian pleaded

I processed Brian's plea for wanting to aid me and decided to disclose the issue. I got myself comfortable and began to explain what happened "Well… I was on my, back... And I was fast asleep. Suddenly… I woke up, but… It felt like I was dreaming, but I wasn't. I knew my eyes were open but I couldn't see anything. I couldn't move. It felt like, I was paralyzed. I felt like I was being stared down. I had a great sense of fear, like there was an evil presence. The sense of fear grew stronger with each second that went by. I was terrified. I tried to scream for help, but not a sound would come out. After trying to scream I felt really dizzy. It felt like something bad was about to happen. Pressure built up in my chest and I couldn't breathe. My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. I could feel my heartbeat in my head and my pulse was so heavy. Then it felt like something grabbed me with it's claws. It was like the whole room was shaking. It was like something, was shaking me with a million voices in my head that were lost souls that were screaming and trying to get out, as if they were being tortured in Hell. It stopped after a while and I was free. I looked around the room and broke down, and well, now you're here" I said explained

There was an awkward silence that filled the room and affected the atmosphere. I looked at Brian and stared at him. I waited for a remark such as "You just had a nightmare" or "You're crazy!" or "There's something wrong with you!" or "You're screwed up in the head!" but he didn't

"Well, there's one thing that could explain this which would be, Sleep Paralysis, I guess" Brian theorized

"Sleep paralysis? What's that?" I asked

"Well, there's really no simple answer. Sleep paralysis, or REM, or rapid eye movement, atonia, is the result of inhibition of motor neurons, which is a process that scientists are still trying to understand better. It's generally accepted that Sleep Paralysis is caused by the release of glycine, an amino acid from the brain stem onto the motor neurons. Some neurotransmitters and hormones are known to generate the many components of REM sleep, but there are no specific hormones that directly cause Sleep Paralysis.  
Some examples would be acetylcholine. It seems to be responsible for REM, but not Sleep Paralysis. Carbachol agonist, and also melatonin have important roles in enhancing the REM state. Such neurotransmitters and hormones probably activated or inhibit the activity of second messengers which then activate or inhibit the third messengers and so on until the last messenger inhibits the synaptic transmission or causes hyper polarization of the motor neurons. When the nervous or endocrine system continues to release the neural inhibitors, a person may experience Sleep Paralysis as they awaken directly from the REM period. So in your case, that's probably what happened to you." Brian explain in a sophisticated manner.

I tried to absorb what Brian just said, it was difficult to process, but I tried to understand his theory of the concept of this so called "Sleep Paralysis". I finished processing what Brian explained and tried to understand it. I approached Brian on the subject out of curiosity

"So Brian, basically there's a hormone in the brain that paralysis your body from manifesting any movement what's so ever during the REM cycle?" I asked

"something like that, yeah" Brian said

"And if my body wakes up during the REM cycle before it's over while the hormone is still in effect, does that explain why I can't move?" I asked

"Yes" Brian said

"So how do you explain the sense of an evil presence? Why was I so panicky? It felt like something horrible was going to happen" I pointed out

"Well, there is a gland or lobe in part of your brain that releases endorphins and emits signals of fear during this process" Brian answered

I processed Brian's answer. I hesitated and finally told Brian what was really bothering me

"Um, Brian, there was something that happened that hopefully you have an answer for as well"

Brian's face grew concerned "What is it James? What happened?" Brian whined

I hesitated again, thinking that I would sound crazy if I told Brian, but I trusted him. I shared my experience with Brian but was unsure

"Brian, I think... I think I was attacked, by a demon" I looked down and waited for the laughter to rain upon me, but, there was only silence that quickly grew extremely unpleasant. I didn't look back at Brian though. I felt uncomfortable with the situation now. I just sat there and said nothing. Suddenly, I saw a white furry hand being extended as it grew closer and rested its self on top of mine. I quickly looked up at Brian with a startled but suppressed gasp to follow as I started to sweat

Brian's grip on my hand became firm. "James, I know exactly what you're thinking right now and no, I'm not going to laugh at you and no, I don't think you're crazy. I'm not saying you're wrong either but I can tell you something that might help calm your nerves, it'll make you less anxious" Brian said in a comforting voice

Brian retracted his hand back to himself "James, if you're having a dream and you wake up and experience Sleep Paralysis you can actually hallucinate and see it while awake. Other hallucinations can be nightmarish or demonic even but whatever you experience is mostly or completely hallucinations created by the brain during Sleep Paralysis." Brian explained

I processed the theory of hallucinations and decided that it wasn't enough, so I went further with the explanation of my experience

"Brian…it, felt like someone, or something was sitting on my chest! I couldn't breathe! It felt like an earthquake hit the room and that something was shaking me violently! It was like there were a million souls stuck in my head, trapped in Hell, trying to get out! Explain that!" I whined and began to tear up again.

I tucked my head into my knees and started to cry. Suddenly, there was something warm and furry squeezing me lightly and patting my back and rubbing it simultaneously.

"James its okay. I'm not saying you had a nightmare and I don't think you're making this up." Brian said comfortingly

Brian released me and came back to eye contact "But what you explained to me sounds exactly like Hag Syndrome. It's very similar to Sleep Paralysis. It's very popular in urban legends and folklore. I've read that in somewhere in folklore that a witch would go into people's dreams and try to steal their souls from them." Brian explained

I looked at Brian "So what you're saying, is that something tried to take my soul?" I asked worried

Brian looked down for a brief moment to think of an answer and focused his eyes back on me.

"James, honestly, I don't know. So I can't answer that question, I'm sorry" Brian said

I looked down and stared at the ground and then hugged myself into a ball. Brian looked down also. The both of us absorbed the awkwardness from the uninviting silence yet again as it grew uncomfortable as each second went by. I sighed deeply and broke the silence.

"Brian, I'm sorry I woke you up… You can go back to sleep now, I don't want o be a bother or anything…" I whined

Brian slowly looked up at me and stared me in the eyes with a worried look on his face.

"James, no!" Brian whimpered

Suddenly Brian's face turned from worried to warm and friendly with a smile "I think I'll keep you company tonight, if you don't mind that is" Brian offered

I looked up quickly and got out of the ball position. I stared at Brian with my jaw dropped. I couldn't believe what I just heard.

"Are you sure Brian?" I asked confused

Brian crawled over the left side of the bed and made himself comfortable, looked at me, and said in a sarcastic voice

"I wouldn't usually offer this to many guys, but… You're an exception because, well, it just doesn't seem weird with you but try not to tell anyone either" Brian said

I began to tear up again but tried to hold them back.

"Thank you, Brian" I said

I crawled over to Brian and got comfortable. Brian was lying on his back with his arm around me and his hand reaching my shoulder with one leg propped up on my leg with his other leg stretched half way out and bent, resting on my knee. I was lying on my side with one arm around Brian with my hand resting on his shoulder and holding him with my other arm that was reaching for his knee with Brian's hand resting on that hand with my other hand also holding him, I was hugging him. My head was resting upon Brian's side close to his neck on the inside of his arm. I closed my eyes and yet more tears slid down my face, but these weren't tears of fear. They were tears of relief. I felt contempt, safe, and secure… Nothing else mattered to me other than this moment. Brian suddenly broke my trance

"Hey, James…?" Brian said

"Yeah Brian?" I said

Brian said with a friendly voice "Goodnight James, I hope you sleep alright and remember, I'm right here, goodnight" Brian said

I hugged Brian lightly, getting myself comfortable "Thank you Brian, goodnight" I said

As we slowly drifted into a deep sleep I thought to myself

(I love you Brian, goodnight)

THE END


End file.
